How I Got My Teenage Daughter to Give Up Toxic Perfume & Deodorant
Few things irritate my nerves more than being exposed to “fragrance.” The word itself, when listed on an ingredient label, represents a mysteriously impenetrable “trade secret formula” of up to 1000 different chemicals (most of which register as neuro-toxic and highly disruptive to hormones). Cleverly masked, these hormone-hacking chemicals seduce teenage girls into a sniff-and-spray frenzy of hope that their now sickly sweet aroma will be the talk of the girls’ squad or reel in the bursting-with-testosterone boys at school.
The other day when my daughter came waltzing home after a shopping spree with friends, proudly doused in her $15 “lavender” perfume from “The Body Shop”, my rebel spirit took note, and planned its revenge on the multi-billion dollar “fragrance” industry that was now messing with my kid’s health!
Kids Are People and People Are Different
Try as I might to impose my ideas of how the world should be, Mika appears to have her own opinions about life and how to live it. I can remember her being very young when she came to me and announced, with a fist on each hip, “Mom! I understand you don’t think meat is good, but I’m telling you… it’s good FOR ME!” I chose at that time not to argue and granted her the dignity of her own observations and point of view.
While I believe it’s appropriate and important to allow your children to foster a sense of self–enable them to come to their own ideas about things, to become their own people, when those choices start to create problems for the health and well-being of others around them, that’s where I tend to draw the line.
Mika wants to be a teenager. She wants to have perfect eyebrows, go to parties with her friends, wear lots of nail polish and “smell good”. My problem is that her version of what smells “good” is what The Skin Deep Database refers to:
“…an undisclosed mixture of various scent chemicals and ingredients used as fragrance dispersants such as diethyl phthalate. Fragrance mixes have been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system.”
a.k.a. “fragrance”
Flower Power Will Always Beat Out Cheap, Toxic “Perfume”
The Body Shop’s version of “lavender” perfume is laced with some kind of hypnotizing undertone of “cherry bubble gum” or “cotton candy” to win teenage girls over. No cheap bottle of lavender essential oil from the local health food store would easily convince her to ditch this new poison perfume. I knew the only chance I had to compete would be an equally hypnotic, but totally natural, combination of essential oils that would make her realize just how ordinary and underwhelming her little “lavender” perfume actually was.
And so my work began…
I started by investing a rather large sum of money toward the purchase of a whole lot of organic perfuming essential oils. I knew I needed whatever potent flower power I could get my hands on to win this war. With some blending supplies like bottles, pipettes, jojoba oil, I set myself up a late night perfume station. I divided all my essential oils by perfuming “notes” and would stay up with the moon at night dripping and dropping a whole series of experimental combinations of flowers and fruits and roots in varying doses until I had something she loved!
Finally, there were three she fell for and loved; each featured around a rather powerful flower–jasmine, rose, and neroli. These are not highly “sophisticated” blends. They were designed to be sweet and seductive to my teenage girl. It turns out that the three she picked were the same three that seemed to have an alluring effect on my husband! 😉 For me, that meant they passed the test with flying colours!
I’ll happily share with you the ingredients we used if you’re interested in the comments below. If you don’t think you’re likely to order a whole bunch of essential oils, or find the time to drip, dabble and drop them yourself to make a perfume, Mika and I made some BIG batches and we’ll be sharing them soon through the newsletter. If you’re not signed up yet, you can do so here. We also made some really big batches of our homemade deodorant and there’s a lot more to say about that below!
6 Poisons Girls & Women Are Putting On Their Pits
Nestled right near tender developing breasts are the arm pits–each housing some 50,000 apocrine sweat glands any girl or woman using conventional deodorants and anti-antiperspirants takes on a whole hot bed of health hazards in every swipe of the pit stick.
Here are six of the main culprits poisoning women and girls through their pits:
- Methly, ethly, propyl, butyl and benzyl-parabens (All known breast cancer triggers due to their estrogenic properties and hormone-disrupting capabilities.)
- Aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum zirconium tratrachlorohydrex, etc. (More estrogen-mimicing ingredients which promote the proliferation of breast cancer cells.
- Silica (Highly carcinogenic and toxic to the immune system.)
- Triclosan (The FDA lists triclosan as a pesticide and Skin Deep Database confirms is causes skin irritation, cancer and dermatitis)
- Talc (Remember the old days when powdered talc was just the thing to do on babies bottoms? Women would put it on their body to prevent moisture. Well, Talc contains asbestos and is considered highly carcinogenic!)
- Propylene glycol is a neurotoxin considered damaging to the liver and kidneys, which is also known to cause allergic reactions.
REMEMBER: This is what beautiful, developing teenage girls are being heavily marketed and pressured (by the school “health” nurse) to douse on their bodies!
Your Scent is Trying to Send You a Message
As toxic “fragrance” chemicals have compromised our olfactory powers and processed foods degraded the health of our bodies, what used to be a highly intuitive pheromonal messaging system between bodies, became a hodgepodge of chemical communications leading to cancer, illness, and (in my opinion) a whole lot more divorce! Before she even walks out the door, the average woman bathes herself in 515 toxic chemicals!
If you think you “stink” then chances are the problem lies more in how you eat, your environmental and relationships pressures and a compromised self-care regimen. In a healthy body, the odour produced in the area of the armpits and genital region is a powerfully intoxicating and absolutely irresistible odour–the very signal designed to help you screen and select your mate!
One of Napoleon’s most famous quotes was an “urgent missive” he sent to his mistress and wife, Josephine:
“I’ll be home in three days. Don’t wash yourself.”
Not everyone needs to love your natural aroma, nor do you need to share it with people at work, but there are ways to safely mask your odour, or at least enhance and improve it that do not compromise your health and well-being. But don’t think just because something says it’s “natural” that it is!
Your “Natural” Deodorant May Not Be So Natural After All
In the video below, Mika shares a story about her psoriasis and how she discovered the not so pretty truth about her “natural” deodorant. When she broke out in a rash on her arm pits, I had her do a bit of research on the ingredient list and she was shocked to discover that the primary ingredient in her “natural” deodorant was a known skin irritant!
The best part of this video starts at around 2:50. The first three minutes are her talking about her skin condition, what doctors said, etc. Then it gets fun around the 2:50 mark! The last section of the video she does a pretty cute, but kinda messy, kitchen table tutorial for how to make the deodorant. We’ve improved the recipe (and the technique ;-)) significantly since then.
Just because something says it’s “natural” doesn’t mean it is good for you, and doesn’t even mean it’s natural!
If you’d like us to share the ingredients, just let us know in the comment section below. I’ve tried many different “natural” and homemade solutions, and this is by far the most effective for us. The fact that I was able to convince Mika to give up the toxic bit stick for our homemade underarm charm means it passes the test in our house. We’ve made a big batch and are working on some sexy little labels then will make these available for others who may not have the time or inclination to do so themselves!
Here’s to hoping for a lot more flower power infusing its way in the world.
I know this was a long one, so thanks so much for reading this! Let us know what you think in the comment section below and if there are any other toxic beauty concoctions you’re looking to find solutions for, let us know!
Love and more flower power,
Tera
p.s.
I posted some rather controversial perfume ads on my Facebook Page for discussion. If you’d like to be a part of the conversation on how media is affecting young women (and older ones, too!), c’mon over and check it out on my Facebook Page.